Priceline Hotel: 4* Amsterdam Advice - 16/4/2011 -18/4/2011

[Janbo25]

Hi wanting 2 x rooms for the above dates.

Tried $64 initially and was rejected then $72 and also rejected with no counter offers.

Does this mean that I probably need to bid a lot more as not been offered a counter offer, how much do you suggest i bid?

[BacSi]

No one here knows the answer to this question as to how much to bid in order to get a win. I do not and I follow this stuff everyday and have for years.

Prices at this time are at least $10 more expensive than last year for wins. So you may in fact be very close. But it all depends on how many rooms and at what prices the hotels have loaded into the PL system.

You have plenty of time to bid. I would raise your bid "a little" each bid. As in a dollar or two at most. No big jumps.

$73 might do it. Then again $75 might be closer. Only time and your bidding will tell the answer to that.

I think you are very close. I just cannot tell you how close.

You are bidding for a 4 star?

Good Luck

[thereuare]

A counter-offer can give you an upper limit as to what it will likely take to get a win, but the lack of a counter-offer does not necessarily indicate that you're far off... we have seen bids rejected with no counter offer and then won at just $1 more.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

[Romelle]

Good advice above. But also, don't be in a hurry to bid clear to your maximum budget just now. You can always do that later, as you get closer to your dates. Sometimes hotels don't release rooms to Priceline this far out.

You might adopt sort of a "sweep" strategy, like bidding $70, $73 and $76 over 3 successive days every week or two. That way if a hotel gets added at a lower price you won't risk overbidding. My numbers are just an example. You can use a wider or narrower range, and more days for that matter.

And I've personally experienced the no-counter-and-then-winning-bid. Several times.

Romelle

[Janbo25]

Thanks for the advice, I have seem

Wins for similar dates to me so

Presuming some rooms must be released although seem to think it was the Moevenpick that was about $80. I might try $75 when I can rebid.

[BacSi]

"Sometimes hotels don't release rooms to Priceline this far out. "

Lower prices the closer to your date because the hotels may dump more rooms into the que.

Advice I have given over the years. Advice that makes sense. Advice I believe.

The only problem is that I have seen little evidence of this happening in Amsterdam. I am sure it must happen but I have not been able to detect it in the wins I have seen.

The really low prices I see normally come months before the date of travel. Those $65 a night 4 star wins are now rare rare rare but when you do see them you see them many months not days or even weeks before the date of travel.

I have not seen a drop dead super great win----real close to the date of travel-----since a year ago when all AMS PL wins were off the charts great ($65-$68 for a 4 star)

For a stay in April 2011 I just doubt you are going to see better win prices than you saw on a bid 2 months ago or you will see today for that time period.

I wish I was wrong about this but I doubt I am

I still bid late. The wins may only be a few dollars more and there is more peace of mind not having my money tied up for months and months. But I do not do it thinking I am going to get a better price.

[Janbo25]

I treid $79 today but still with no success so do you think the best tactic is to leave it a while now or to still try and increase it a little?

[BacSi]

If it were me, and I realize I am not, I would not go beyond $80. While wins may be higher this year than they were last year I have not seen many wins beyond $80 where the bidder did not make a one time somewhat high bid. I did see one outlier in Nov for $86.

Most 4 star wins, where the bidder went up slowly, tend to be in that $75-$80 range now.

I am not sure you have much to lose by waiting. I doubt you would end up paying a lot more and you just might get a win at a lower price later.

April is a busier month. But normally we see very good wins even so. You might be bidding to early for those dates. You may have picked an unlucky few days.

I would bid $80 and then take a break and watch the prices if I were the one bidding. I break out in a terrible rash and hives when I pay more than I think I should.

But each bidder is different

Good Luck

[thereuare]

What is the best rate you're able to find thru conventional booking channels?

[BacSi]

4*------ Moevenpick---- $70---- 4/23/2011

Janbo, I did find this one with a little looking. And that is Easter weekend which normally is quite busy. This was a bid from a few months back. So clearly some good deals have been loaded for April already.

Sometimes certain dates just prove to be unlucky for some reason. Conventions----cruises (they tend to book the Movenpick big time) events of some sort.

[Janbo25]

Looking around rooms in general are cheaper the weekend I want than they are the following weekend 23rd which is Easter, the Moevenpick as no availability it says for easter but still some availability for the weekend I am looking for, must just be I'm unlucky lol!!

[Janbo25]

$164 Dollars though Hotwire for the dates requested per room

[Janbo25]

Tried another bid for $83 and still rejected so might just wait now do you think?

[thereuare]

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

[BacSi]

Janbo, normally its quite hard to give anyone advice as to what hotel they might get. Except for the fact that 3 four star hotels are in play now.

But I just looked at a few different sites to see what is going on with 5 stars. Normally harder than 4's for me to figure out or have an intelligent guess on what you might get and at what price.

But of the last 5 wins I have seen----for a variety of months starting in Dec and going into Spring-----the NH Barbizon Palace has come up 4 of the 5 times. And all in that price range of $100-$109. The 5th win was for a different hotel and at a much higher price point.

Something to think about.

[Janbo25]

Been bidding on 4* Amsterdam Hotels without much success for April 2011 even at 95$ been rejected therefore thinking of considering 5* as seen a few wins around the same time for 100$, however worried of where we might be given NH Barbizon looks to be popular and locations also seems good, what do others think??

[BacSi]

5 star bidding in AMS for me is more of a crap shoot as far as what you might get than 4 star bidding. Crap shoot just means---it could be a lot of different places.

Sure it could be the Barbizon. Or even as likely the Amrath. But it also could be one of 4 or 5 others. For a while we had a run on the Kras.

I'd do some serious looking at the 5 star wins and then check out all 5 star hotels that show up. If you are happy with them all----then why not bid on a 5.

The others in play during the past 12 months besides those I have mentioned:

Bildenberg Garden

Hilton

Marriott

Okura

With a 4 star I could make an intelligent guess as to which hotel you might win. Not so with the 5.

[thereuare]

Please keep all posts for the same stay in the same thread.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

3x

[Janbo25]

Just tried $106 and still rejected!! looks like this could prove to be expensive!